


Rewind

by blynk_kitt



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Link dies but he does not stay dead, Link is having a bad time, M/M, Mute Link, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, angsty Link, game mechanics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23122375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynk_kitt/pseuds/blynk_kitt
Summary: Link keeps dying. Hylia puts him right back where he started.Our boy is aware of the game mechanics, and angsts about it.
Relationships: Link/Prince Sidon
Comments: 10
Kudos: 117





	Rewind

It’s the repetitive motions that first put Sidon off.

“Are you ready, Link?” he asks, sliding into the water. 

Link nods, fiddling for a moment with his Sheikah Slate. Sidon watches patiently—the Divine Beast can wait a few more moments. But the moments drag into minutes as Link continues pulling out his Sheikah Slate and marking something down on it, then sliding it back into its place on his hip. Repeat. Sidon’s patience melts into concern.

Link’s frowning, tense, growing more agitated every time he pulls out the slate.

“Link,” Sidon says, unable to keep the concern out his voice.

The Sheikah Slate gets put away, then goes right back into Link’s hands.

“Link,” he says, slightly louder.

This time Link looks up. “I’m trying,” he signs. His fingers snap on the gesture, his expression tight and angry.

“I’m sorry,” Sidon says. “I didn’t mean to be pushy…” he trails off as Link starts rapid-fire signing at him.

“I can’t do this.” Link signs. His hands move faster, frantic, as he continues. “I can’t go in there and face her. I could do this, if I didn’t have to look at her. I should have been here; I should have helped. I don’t even remember her. She loved me—she loved me and I let her down, and I have to look her in the eyes knowing that I failed. It should have been me. I have second chance after second chance, they’d all be alive if I had just been there—”

Perhaps Link is just signing too fast and that’s why the words Link is throwing into the air aren’t connecting in Sidon’s mind. But something is wrong. Granted, Sidon has known Link for a whole twelve hours, but the blind panic the Hylian Champion is in seems off.

“What are you talking about?” Sidon asks.

Link’s hands fly far too quickly for Sidon to catch more than snippets: “again, I, start over, Mipha, remember”.

“Link,” Sidon says. He forces himself to talk calmly, carefully. He climbs back onto the dock. “Slow down.”

Link does slow down. His signs are exaggerated, large, sharp, angry. “I keep dying,” he signs. “Mipha’s spirit is in there—” he throws a hand toward Vah Ruta. “—and I can’t do this. With Revali it was easy. We hated each other. I could just ignore him. I can’t ignore her. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t know that I’ve done this twenty times—”

His sister is in there. It makes Sidon’s heart swell. Even if it is only her spirit, knowing she’s so close makes him ache in a fresh grief way, but also in a softer, sweeter way.

But Link’s words still aren’t adding up.

“What do you mean, twenty times?” he asks.

“I mean that every time I die, I just come back!” Link signs. “Something makes me come back, just resets everything, and no one remembers, no one even knows.”

“Hylia herself must be keeping you safe,” Sidon says.

“Safe? If she’s powerful enough to bring me back each time, she’s powerful enough to keep my flesh from melting when I get a Guardian beam to my chest. Or smushed under a Talus’s body. Or from falling to my death after getting flung off a cliff. Have you ever been hit by lightning, Sidon? I have. Three times. I’ve been run through by Lynels, pin cushioned with arrows, and now, just now, Mipha kept telling me what a good job I was doing while fighting the Calamity that killed her and I couldn’t move, not even after hearing it for the twentieth time. I just froze up. Because I’m useless. Thank Hylia she had the sense to keep bringing me back, or I would have stayed dead about three hours after waking up. Some Champion I’ve turned out to be.”

Link turns to face Vah Ruta. His jaw is set, his arms crossed over his chest in a sudden silence.

“I had no idea,” Sidon says. He reaches out to put a hand on Link’s shoulder but instead returns it to his side.

They stand in the rain in silence for a moment before Link turns back to Sidon, but his eyes are still on Vah Ruta.

“If it had been me,” Link signs, “all those years ago, I could have taken it for her. And if I died… well…”

“You are not responsible for Mipha’s death,” Sidon says. “Your duty was to the princess first—”

“—who I also failed to protect!”

“—and because of your courage,” Sidon continues, “countless lives were saved. And if my sister’s spirit is on board the Divine Beast, I know that she wouldn’t blame you. And is thankful you’re here to put things right.”

Link still doesn’t look up, but his shoulders soften. “Thank you,” he signs.

He doesn’t want to push, but Link is in a bad place and he can’t just ignore the information he’s just learned.

“You said that you keep coming back; that things reset?” Sidon asks.

Link nods. “It happens when I… die,” he signs. “But I can also trigger it. With my Sheikah Slate. Just rewind things. Which I should probably do.”

Sidon’s stomach turns, and it’s not just the nerves of going up against Vah Ruta. “Rewind this?” he asks.

”Don’t worry,” Link signs. He looks at Sidon. “You won’t remember any of this. You’ll blink, and then you’ll only remember me succeeding: the perfect hero.” Link taps on the Sheikah Slate. Blue magic starts surrounding him. “I’m sorry.”

“Link, wait!” Sidon shouts. “I can help you; you don’t have to face this alone!”

Link smiles bitterly at him, as the blue Sheikah magic lifts him off the ground. 

* * *

Link is still tapping on his Sheikah Slate. This time, when he puts it away, he gives Sidon a smile. There’s something… sad behind it. Perhaps he’s nervous? Perhaps just reminded of Vah Ruta and all his times with Mipha?

“Alright,” Link signs. “Let’s go.”


End file.
